The Beach...A Leisure Activity

 The weather has finally gotten nice enough to go to the beach and lay out in the sun. There's nothing better than after a day of classes heading to Barceloneta Beach, grabbing a sandwich and laying out in the sun. You just can't do that where I go to school in the Midwestern United States, unless laying out in the sun also means laying out in the cornfields. My favorite spot is near the W Hotel because I often find that its less crowded then it is closer to the clubs like Opium. One day I went to the beach and there  was a sand castle competition going on. The picture to the right is by far the most clever sand 'castle' I have ever seen. I watch the artist construct the entire figure in less than thirty minutes and as soon as he was finished                                                  
he began to instruct the Barca figure to the left. I through some change on the hand as I was about to leave and in the next five minutes, three police men came over to the hand and stepped all over it. I was so confused but it's apparently illegal to beg for money using sand 'castles.' The past few weeks in Barcelona have been great weather to relax at the beaches and I'm not looking forward to leaving and going back to Lake Michigan when I've been used to the Mediterranean Sea.

Paella

Of all the food I came to eat in Barcelona, my favorite, by far, was Paella. In class we learned a little but about the history of Paella. Paella was originally a peasant food and depending whether one lived on the coast or inland, there were different variations. Paella made by peasant families on the coast featured seafood such as shrimp and mussels. Paella made by peasant families inland and away from the coast often had meats such as chicken or rabbit. It was a peasant food because it was mainly composed of rice which is a very cheap staple food. Peasants added whatever meat was available to finish off the dish. The first time I ate Paella was in Valencia and I had it both nights while there. The first night I ate paella it was a seafood paella and the second night it was a chicken paellla, or so I thought. After we finished the delicious meal, we got the check and looked it over and saw that the paella we just ate was rabbit paella. At first I was kind of disgusted and felt like throwing up everything I just ate because growing up, my family had a pet rabbit. Then I accepted it and moved on to desert. The best paella I had in Barcelona was with my dad when he came to visit. He had heard from friends and read about this restaurant before he came that the served the best paella in the entire city. The place was called 7 Portes and it really was unbelievable. It was a seafood paella that came out steaming hot and had so much flavor. I didn't even wait to let the rice cool down because it smelled so good. I burnt my throat and tongue but nothing else mattered as long as it ended up in my stomach. Since that meal I've been searching for equivalent paella and nothing has compared. I doubt I'll make it back to 7 Portes any time soon but hopefully one day. The paella in the picture is actually paella made by my RA and it was very good also.

Jewish Quarter

As a class we made a field trip to the Jewish Quarter in Barcelona. The Jewish Quarter in Catalan is known as Call. In Call we walked around and saw the the guilded neighborhoods with the streets named after the guilds they used to represent. Unfortunately the only Jewish remains is a less than significant synagogue hidden in a basement of an old medieval building. Although Barcelona once had a prominent Jewish community in the middle ages, today there is a limited community. The downfall of the Jews in Barcelona came with the rise of the Catholic Kings in Castile. Ferdinand and Isabella instituted the Spanish Inquisition in 1492. The Spanish Inquisition set out to create the ultimate Catholic Spain and Jews or Muslims were not welcome. They were given the option to either convert and assimilate into Catholicism and leave their Jewish roots and culture behind, or go into exile outside of Spain never to return. Many left the city of Barcelona and fled to Morocco and established Sephardic Judaism, while many remained in Barcelona and adhered to Catholicism, at least outside of their homes. Many Jewish families would become "crypto-Jews," or Jews who were believed to have converted, however when at home they practiced their Jewish culture and perhaps even spoke a Jewish language such as Yiddish. When we went as a class to the synagogue it was unfortunately closed and the only reminder that it was in fact a synagogue was the Mezuzah that was nailed next to the door. However I returned to the Synagogue when I knew it would be open to check it out. It's small and modest, nothing like the synagogue's back home where they are gigantic. But it was nice to know that there was still a Jewish presence in the city.

Roman Barcino

At the beginning of the semester we began to learn about the early history of the city of Barcelona. We learned that the  Romans established a city called Barcino in present-day Barcelona and some of the remains can be seen when walking around a particular part of the city, for example the last remaining portion of the Roman aqueduct next to the Barcino sign. However, most Roman Barcino ruins exist in a museum located on top of where the ancient city was located. We went on a class field trip to this museum early on in the semester and we were able to see how and where the citizens of Barcino lived. The first thing we did when we entered the museum was take an elevator downstairs and back two thousand years. At this point no pictures were allowed to be taken so unfortunately this blog won't have any visual components. When we exited the elevator in front of us were old Roman ruins, Roman ruins I didn't even know existed. There was an entire ancient city in front of my eyes and I couldn't wait to walk amongst the ruins. My favorite part of the exhibit was the model house that showed how an affluent Barcino home looked and functioned. The home largely ran on account of the slaves and their barracks were built on the outer section of the home. After the home we saw how the men and women of Barcino passed free time. They showed old board and dice games that they recovered amongst the ruins. After the games there was an example of how the men and women dressed and how they would wash their clothing. I was surprised to learn that they used there own urine to wash their clothes because it contains a chemical that sterilizes the clothes. Seems a little ironic that urine can clean cloths. We saw their ancient 'washing machines' and remnants of their homemade bleach remained in a blue tint that covered the ruins. A final ruin that caught my eye were the large vats that were once used to store and ferment red wine. Again we could see remnant of tint, this time reddish-purple color, where the wine used to be. To come to Barcelona with no previous knowledge that a a Roman city used to exist here and then to be able to walk amongst the ruins was absolutely fantastic.

Poll Shows that Citizens Want Independence

A non-governmental commission has concluded a four-month rolling poll to the citizens of Barcelona. The poll had one question: Would you be in favor of Catalan independence? A minority population of the residents in Barcelona participated in the vote as 18%, or approximately 250,000 people, cast votes. The results showed that 90% of those who voted would be in favor of an independent Catalan state. I don't find this at all surprising because ever since I've been in Barcelona I've been constantly reminded by Catalan teachers and Catalan people I meet, that Catalonia has a completely different culture and language from the rest of Spain and that Catalan's identify themselves as 'Catalan' not 'Spanish.' Though in an article I was reading about the leading Catalan political party, CiU, it states that their ideologies are based off of gaining greater autonomy within the Spanish government, not necessarily gaining complete independence from Spain. My question is that if a poll shows that over 90 percent of citizens in the capital of Catalonia voted for independence, why did they vote CiU into office if their political agenda includes remaining a part of Spain? The people could have advocated a vote for a Catalan nationalist independence party yet they again voted in favor of a party that supports Catalonia within Spain. I'm beginning to believe that Catalans like the idea of independence from Spain more than of how feasible or realistic independence would be. 

A little bit harsh?

It's finally warmed up enough in Barcelona to make a day out of going to the beach. There's nothing better then laying out on the warm sand at Barceloneta Beach while catching a cool breeze from the Mediterranean Sea. Where whatever you want on the beach, practically nothing, but as soon as you walk off the beach and enter the streets of the city, you better be careful not to run into any police if your still wearing your bathing suit. The government of Barcelona has cracked down on beach-goers wandering the streets in only a bathing suit. Fines can reach up to as high 500 euros for nudists but the more modestly dressed beach goers can be fined up to 300 euros. The city of Barcelona has some of the best dressed and most conservatively dressed citizens in the world. It's hard to find a local  who wears shorts or a local who isn't dressed fancy on a weekday. The city has an unspoken dress code and finally the city has taken the steps to officially declare clothing that is unacceptable to wear around the streets. Though I do find it hard to believe that a policeman would stop a beautiful women in a bikini walking down Las Ramblas on a hot summer day and hand her a ticket for 300 euros. I think this is just a warning. 

Antoni Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia, is expected to be completed in approximately fifteen years. The basilica had a close call Easter weekend when a group of tourists saw a 'disturbed' man with lighters around a cloud of smoke. The fifty-five-year-old gentlemen was seen lighting robes in the basilica and setting fire to   some furniture. Over 1,500 tourists were evacuated from the building and the surrounding exterior areas. Barcelona Mayjor Jordi Hereu confirmed there was no structural damage done to the basilica but some furniture was ruined. La Sagrada Familia has largely become the symbol of Barcelona as it brings over two million visitors to the city annually. The loss of the church would have been devastating to the city and possibly a group of tourists is to thank. Had they not seen the cloud of smoke and reacted quickly, the elaborate structure may have seen it's last crowd. Gaudi was a devout Catholic and the construction began in 1882. When he died in 1926, the structure was still far from finished. Almost one hundred and thirty years later, the structure is still incomplete yet construction workers are a fixture outside the facade working endlessly to complete the basilica. The immense detail and careful construction pay tribute to Gaudi's most cherished work. 

Unemployment in Spain

My Leisure Activity

 Is there anything better than a cold beer after a long day? No. To be honest the beers I've had in Catalunya were nothing special but the atmosphere i drank those beers in was spectacular. I had never known myself to be a day-drinker but then I realized that I don't need to get drunk every time I drink. Upon my arrival in Barcelona I quickly learned that Catalans drink vino o cervesa todo el dia but they dont dont get drunk. They drink very slowly while Americans buy a bottle of hard liquor and try to finish it as fast as possible so we can end the night with no clue where we are and vomit all over our shoes. I don't like those nights. Believe it or not, in Barcelona I learned to drink responsibly. I learned to drink to relax and not to party. Me and my roommate (no, not the gentleman pictured above. I don't know who he is) found a tapas bar right near where we live and they have a deal of a beer and one tapas for 1.50 euros. We spent our fair share of Friday and Saturday afternoons outside on Gran Via watching the world go by as we sipped on our San Miguel's and bit into our jamon iberico. I also learned to love a great bar that is semi-well-known: Ovella Negra. Pictured above and to the right, you order a tower or torre of cervesa for only 16 euros. It can give you and three of your friends a pretty good buzz. The wine in Catalunya is also very good. I spent many nights during and after dinner slowly sipping on some wine knowing that just weeks away I'll be back home overpaying for worse wine. Many might look down on drinking as a leisure activity but if you finish all your work and it's the end of the week, why not?

Field Trip to Medieval Barcelona

 An in-class field trip brought us to Medieval Barcelona. On the way we passed the famous Palau de la Musica. I had walked by the building several times and always stopped to look at the architecture and why the older half and the newer half looked so different yet fit together so well like a puzzle. The facade of the Palau is magnificent, my favorite part being the huge glass panel at the entrance. From there we made our way around the corner to a smaller theatre known as L'Antic Teatre. I took the recommendation to return to L'Antic Teatre and have a drink on the patio. It was great.  Directly next door to this smaller theatre we stopped as a class for about 10 minutes to discuss a building that was built in the 13th century. The building is the orange colored one picture below and to the right. As you can see the windows begin to get smaller and smaller as the floors get higher. This can be explained through an understanding of the class system in Medieval Barcelona. The walls that surrounded the city had prevented horizontal growth, thus it had to grow vertically. The owner of the building, thus the owner of the store or restaurant or whatever may be on the bottom floor, lived on the second floor and was

given the largest window. His floor was called 'Principal.' Today, in my apartment building in Barcelona, I press 3 when I use the elevator. However, before 3 there is  Entresuelo, Principal, 1 and 2. I'm not sure what Entreseulo stands for or what it's historical significance, if any, it holds. After Principal, in Medieval Barcelona, lives the artisan or master of the craft who works in the store on the bottom level. After him are people who work for him and on top of them live the maids of the house and building. It is a social hierarchy of richest to poorest from the bottom up. Balconies were also a sign of affluence. We then made our way to Santa Maria del Mar and on the right  there is a picture of a grave stone. Wealthy families

 that donated money to the construction of the cathedral were given the privilege of burial within the cathedral itself. This field trip also focused on the many guilds of Barcelona and street names signified where members of the guilds lived and worked. A large plaza in Medieval Barcelona was Placa de la Llana. To the bottom and the left, there is a picture that shows the sign of the Llana guild, or textile workers. There are many markers like this around the old city. To the bottom and the right, another picture representing a separate guild dons the wall. These plaques on the walls have lasted 6 or 7 centuries and the history of the city can be unfolded by simply taking a walk.

La Diada de Sant Jordi

 The day I returned from spring break was La Diada de Sant Jordi on April 23rd. I returned from the airport, set down my luggage and walked to Placa Catalunya. In Catalonia, April 23rd is a litle bit like the equivalent of Valentines Day in the United States. A day of love. The customs are that men give women
roses and they in return give their man a book. The symbolism is meant for a rose to mean love and a book to last forever. Up and down Placa Catalunya, down Las Ramblas and through the old city there were stands selling roses from 1 euro to 20 euros. There were also book stands where huge crowds of both men and women waited in line for discounted products. Outside Corte Ingles there had to be a line of over 300 people looking to buy books. I had never seen the streets of Barcelona so packed with pedestrians. Men, women and children of all ages crowded the streets all for Sant Jordi? I came to a realization that La Diada de Sant Jordi wasn't just a day to celebrate love, it was a day to celebrate Catalunya. Catalan flags draped buildings and stands up and down the streets. A huge Catalan flag hung from Corte Ingles, the most recognizable building in Barcelona's largest plaza. I found it interesting that Corte Ingles' headquarters are stationed in Madrid yet they allowed a huge Catalan flag to be draped from their building in Barcelona's most prominent plaza. It was a day of Catalan nationalism. Not necessarily a day for Catalan independence, but a day to celebrate a tradition that began as early as the 16th century and a tradition that was clearly still going strong.

 As I prepare to leave Catalunya in just over two weeks, I found myself appreciating the Catalan people and the value they place on family and tradition. I had never seen such appreciation of a city then I did on the faces of every Catalan that walked down the streets of Barcelona. It seemed as if nobody had anywhere to be so they spent the day just walking the streets and people watching and gazing up at the architecture. Restaurants were packed, bars were wall-to-wall and people were happy. It was nice to return to Barcelona.

Figueres and Dali Museum

 My dad and I arrived in Figueres, a city 30 minutes north of Girona by train, in the late afternoon. My dad is a huge Salvador Dali fanatic and we have a couple pieces of recreations of his art hanging in our kitchen back in Chicago. I've never been into art too much but he was excited to go so I went with him. Off the train Figueres looked like a small urban area with an old population. As we got closer to the center of the city where there is a huge tower and a castle, I realized that there really weren't any store fronts advertising in Spanish and nobody around me was speaking Spanish. All signs were in Catalan and the people only spoke Catalan. We followed signs and crowds to the Dali Museum. Right out front was an older gentlemen playing the accordion. He was spectacular and I had to take a picture of him. I think the accordion looks like one of the hardest instruments to play and since being in Catalonia I've come across several street performers who play this instrument. We found the museum relatively quickly and paid the fee to go inside. Immediately We are crowded with high school students from all across Catalonia who also came to see the museum. As somebody
 who prides himself on not knowing anything about art, I believe that the Dali Museum in Figueres is the coolest museum, of any sort, that I have ever been too. I could not fathom the sorts of artwork he had created. What went through his mind? How could a human being possibly create such artwork? It blew my mind. Also, I could not believe how many pieces of art he created. There must have been hundreds of paintings and sculptures. My favorite piece of art that I saw was perhaps the one pictured at the bottom of the page. I enjoy it so much because in order to see the whole artwork I had to do a little work. The "eyes", the nose, the mouth and the hair are all located separate from each other. I had to climb a staircase and stand on a platform to take a picture of the whole artwork. I had never experienced anything like that. After seeing Dali's art, I now have a new appreciation for his work and will try to understand the artwork of other artists that I am exposed to.

Girona

My dad came to visit and he had never been to Catalonia before. We spent his first three days exploring the city and with me as his tour guide I showed him all the big Barcelona attractions. On his fourth day here we took the train north to Girona. Right off the train the town isn't that impressive. It looked a little industrial at first then as we walked more it began to get prettier. We stopped at a tourist information desk and they pointed us in the right direction of the old city. We crossed over a bridge and had an amazing view of the riverfront of Girona. After the bridge it appeared that we had made it to the old city center. It looked a little bit like Barcelona's gothic quarter but the streets were fairly wider and more hilly. The main reason we traveled to Girona was to check out the Jewish museum and it was located in the old town. I had learned at IES that Girona once had a prominent Jewish population and when I told my dad that it was only a train ride away he wanted to make the trip. On the outside of the museum, in the window of the apartment above, there were Palestinian flags. We entered the museum and asked why such disrespect was shown outside of a Jewish museum and they replied that they are not affiliated with the flags and they can't be removed because the apartment above the museum is private property. Once inside the museum we learned that Girona no longer had a Jewish community. The Jews were eradicated during the Spanish Inquisition and all of their synagogues were destroyed. The museum is now in the location of the best preserved synagogue. The museum was small but had a lot of cool artifacts and items that survived the Inquisition. It showed prominent Jews from Girona, their professions and their influence on Catalan culture. There was also a patio with a big Star of David and a large Israeli flag which was nice to see. It's a little disappointing coming to Barcelona, a huge international city, and not being exposed to any Jewish culture except for a small synagogue that must hide it's existence for fear of being vandalized, but now that I know a great museum of Jewish history in Catalonia exists, I am pleased. We ate lunch in the old town of Girona and headed another half hour north to Girona.

La Boqueria

Me and one of my roommates wanted to try a different market than the one we usually go to on Rocafort and Diputacio so I suggested La Boqueria. I had been there once before during my first week in Barcelona but I hadn't been back since. We took the Metro to Liceu on La Rambla and walked to the market from there. The place is world famous for fresh and exotic foods and the prices aren't too bad. We walked into a crowded mosh-pit of tourists and locals alike all fixated on the variety of cuisine that was before them. A women gutting fish caught my eye. It would take her less than a minute to slice open a ten to twelve pound fish, gut it and clean it before she handed filets to the her waiting customers. Across from her stand was a large meat stand. There were legs of pigs hanging from the ceiling and  full pig heads staring at us from the window display. How do you even cook a pigs head? Past this area the market became more fruit and vegetable oriented. We can never find any strawberries at our local market, therefore we loaded up and got a huge bucket for a small price. We also bought a kilogram of mushrooms for two euros. An area of the market that stood out to me as purely Catalan and Mediterranean was stand after stand of all different types of olive oils. Also there were quite a lot of cheeses displayed and each stand offered a sample. We bought a Catalan brand of olive oil to cook with and a cheese that was from Girona. On our way out we stopped for a big cup of fresh-squeezed juice from a fruit stand. La Boqueria was a success. 

Montserrat

I visited Montserrat on a beautiful day in February. Montserrat (Literally "Jagged Mountain) is located about a forty-five minuted drive away from Barcelona in Catalonia. It currently serves as a monastery for some seventy monks. We arrived around nine in the morning and to views of the Pyrenees Mountains and France in the foggy distance. The mountain itself is extremely unique as it juts out every which way creates a site that anybody who visits Catalonia should see. After exploring the the toursity area at the bottom of the mountain where they sell assorted cooking oils and cheeses, we made our way up the mountain to a tram that went almost vertical bringing to an ideal area for hiking. Our tour guide pointed out an old monastery no longer in use way up in the mountains and we traversed narrow paths to arrive at huge cross located at the top of the mountain. From here we saw the most amazing view Montserrat has to offer. In the distance we could see the tower that sits atop Montjuic and the summits of Pyrenees mountains. We spotted several small towns beneath us also. From there we made our way back to the bottom where we ate lunch and eventually went to the art museum. I came across a portrait of an older gentlemen and couldn't believe the detail and realism. I looked closer and saw Picasso's signature and took a step back as it was my first encounter with an actual Picasso piece. I looked closer at the description of the painting and it said, "Early Pablo Picasso, painted at fourteen-years-old. Could not believe it. From the art museum we went to the cathedral and waited in a long line to see the Virgin of Montserrat, or "the Black Virgin." It was declared the patron of Catalonia, along with Saint Jordi, in 1844 by the Pope. After a long-day of hiking and sight-seeing, we arrived back in Barcelona around six at night, early enough to grab a beer. 

Unrest in the Middle East, Where I Stand

I can't help but constantly follow the revolutions and unrest that are occurring in several of the Middle East and North African states. Political strife and a call for the end of monarchies that have lasted two, three or four decades have flooded international news as the snowball effect of democracy has taken to the streets of the Arab world. The people of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco and now Libya seek to strike down the monarchical rulers of the past and begin new with a government ruled by the people for the people. Plazas and streets act as theaters of uproar and protests that call for the seemingly delusional leaders to step down from their positions. After 18 days of staunch protests, Hosni Mubarak, the leader of Egypt handed the power over to the military after thirty years in office. Egyptians of all walks and classes showed up to support the oust of Mubarak, even a Google executive who made headlines as he went missing due to an arrest that resulted from protesting in Cairo's famous Tahrir square (coincidently "Liberation Square" in English). Libyans have not been so lucky as their staunch leader of forty-two years, Muammar Gaddafi, has responded with brute force and even bombed his own cities, his own people. This past week, Gaddafi ordered the bombing of a city that was the focal points of protests in a region of Libya. The two pilots of the plane that were responsible to carry out his orders opted to let the plane crash as they ejected from their seats. Libyan's are having a tougher time than their neighbors, the Egyptians, however daily protests continue. I believe these protests for democracy are an outstanding example of a person's need to express himself or herself politically. I hope each country in the region continues to fight for their liberties and revolutionize their governments. There is no other option but to be persistent.

Egypt's Tahrir Square on February 8th, 2011

Libyan Women Protesting

Fountain Show at Montjuic

I live down the street from Placa de Espanya and Montjuic and every Friday and Saturday night they have a spectacular fountain and lights show. I went this yesterday for surprisingly the first time since I’ve been in Barcelona. Every half hour from 7pm to 9pm there is a 10-minute show. I’ve never such coordination between the water shooting, spewing and flowing from the fountains, the multi-colored lights and the music that accompanied the show. I went with my friend Emily and we walked all the way to up to the Museo Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. We ordered dos cervesas and sat at a table that overlooked the entire city from a great vantage point. In the distance we could see Tibidabo, the highest point in Barcelona in the Collserola mountain range. It was lit up and I wondered if anybody was up there right now looking back at us. Beneath us and to the right we saw La Sagrada Familia which was an amazing sight to see lit up at night. We stayed for almost an hour and then walked down back towards Placa de Espanya. I’ll be back next weekend for sure.